A GRIEVOUS CALAMITY.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 3 April 1923, Page 5

A GRIEVOUS CALAMITY.

FRENCH FIRE ON GERMANS.

TEN KILLED,

(Received April .3, 9.15 a.m.) . LONDON, April 2. / The Daily Express' Dusseldorf correspondent states that Sunday's Easter calm was broken by a grievous calamity in Essen.. The French sent a handful of soldiers with a machine gun to requisition a motor car at Krupps' works, and as they entered the sirens sounded and 50,000 workers began to, pour out of the works. One workman, seeing danger, stood out conspicuously and begged his fellows to keep quiet, j The French soldiers, being ignorant of the German language, mistook the workman's intention and fired the ma-0 chine gun, using a whole belt, into the ■crowd a few yards distant. The .spokesman fell shot in the head, and the bullets made a lane of dead and wounded in the crowd.

What might have been a vastly worse catastrophe was just avoided. Two French .engineers who met the maddened crowd were in danger of being lynched, but were rescued by Krupps' fire brigade.

Among tnqse present was Monsignor Tiesta, special emissary of the Pope, aM so-overcome was he that he fell on his -knees ;and stayed a long time praying for the souls of the dead.

Sever.aH of the wounded are likely to die, as most of the wounds are in the head and the upper part of the body, suggesting that the soldiers meant to fire -ab.ofv« the heads of the crowd

It is a miracle that a vast riot was avoided, bat the .ariibulances quickly carried oft the sdead wrapped in white cloths, and when a French fcaaik appeared sm hour .and a half later aiost of the crowd obeyed an urgent sumnioris to go quietly to their homes.

The town is now /full of >. heavily arm : ed troops, though maiay are mere Tk>ys. There is little fear -.oi a further mit--fereak, but German feeHng is savage,-

The latest. advices f warn Essen state that the casualties at Kraipps were ten killed. ; ■*'■...''■'■'.•

Four directors of Krupps were arrested and charged with sounding the factory sirens with the express intention of provoking a conflict ibstween the workers and the soldier;?.—Aus.N.Z. Cable Assn. ;